The Chronicles of Shade P2 - Bàoyìng
by MonsterSlut
Summary: My name is River Quinn. For five years I was stuck on an island, I was tested and I survived. But I wasn't alone. Together with Oliver Quinn I returned to clean up the streets of Starling City but we failed. Now I'm living in exile. In my exile I have friends, people who want to help me become a better person, a better hero. I am Shade and I am justice. Pt 3 is up!
1. Chapter 1

**++++++ Hello, hello, hello! Cause I'm feeling generous in my writing, here is chapter one of Bàoyìng, part two of my Arrow fan fiction, Kōngxū. Please enjoy my peeps! ++++++**

**One**

_Peter came out of the lounge room, gun drawn. He almost paled when he saw me. "Listen, this is my home, my family-don't do this here."_

_I pointed at my mother. "Where's the machine?"_

_She cocked her head to the side. "What machine?"_

_I held my hands up and slowly took my domino mask off. "The machine you and Malcolm are using to destroy the Glades."_

_Peter lowered his gun. "River? You're Shade?" _

_I paused. "Yup," I answered, popping the 'p'. _

_Peter looked at me than looked to my mother. "What machine?"_

_My mother smirked. "River, River, River. You've been a naughty, naughty girl."_

_"__You're working with Malcom," I accused her. "You're murdering innocent people!"_

_She laughed. "That's rich coming from you. Vigilante Shade, going after the one percenters, trying to eliminate the thing that destroys this city. Try focusing on the filth in the Glades instead. They poison this city. You should be on our side, River! Your father started this. He had second guesses, so did Robert."_

_I stared at her. "Peter," I spoke, "take the girls and Frankie and get the hell out of here. I'll deal with her."_

_"__River-" he objected. "No! She's your mother! No one is going anywhere until I'm told what the hell is going-"_

_He was cut off when a knife was thrust through his chest. _

_I gasped when his body dropped to the ground, my mother wearing an awful smirk on her face. "What did you do?"_

_She threw the knife aside and cracked her neck. "You know from the moment you returned I knew something was off. You were more focused-I knew this would be a problem. I wanted to know what you knew-but you and Queen were so clever-well Malcolm is better trained than Queen-he's probably dead already."_

_She launched herself at me, catching me off guard. Behind her, Angela and Molly stood in the doorway, tears streaming down their faces. They'd seen our mum stab Peter. "Take Frankie and go!" I yelled, hitting the ground. _

_Mum grabbed my head and slammed it against the wooden floor. "Stay," she hissed. "And you won't be punished."_

_"__Run!" I screamed. I elbowed her in the throat and pushed her off me. "Girls! Go!" I yelled. I struggled up, there was not a lot of room in the hallway between the stars and the wall. _

_She kicked me in the back of the knee and I fell like a sack of bricks. She bent down and grabbed a chunk of my hair. "You're a bad girl, River. Running around the city killing all my friends. Malcolm will probably want you alive but I'm disinclined to agree with him. You cost us."_

_I elbowed her in the face, breaking her nose. She stumbled back and it gave me enough time to get up. I ran towards the girls. "Go! Go!" I yelled. "Out the back and up the window! Go get Frankie!"_

_"__You little bitch!" she screamed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back, I blocked her arm when she went to strike me and I punched her in the throat. _

_Sweeping my leg out, I kicked her legs out from underneath me and she hit the ground with a resounding bang. "Down, girl," I growled, supporting a bleeding lip. _

_She pulled me down and jumped up, her face twisted in an ugly scowl. "I'm better than you!" my mother hissed. "I will always be better." She stood over me and slammed her foot down, cracking my knee. _

_I screamed in pain. _

_"__And I'm the better shot," Peter coughed from the floor. The two of us looked back and Peter fired, the bullet hitting my mother right in between the eyes._

_"__Mummy!" Molly screamed. _

_"__NO!" I yelled, grabbing Molly as she ran towards mum. I groaned in pain, my knee was killing me. I'm sure there was some kind of damage to my knee. _

_"__Get out of here!" Peter ordered me._

_"__No!" I snapped. _

_Peter coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. "I'm calling this in. Get out of here now! We'll talk later."_

_I slid over to the wall, my hands sliding through the blood pooling around mum's head. I slipped and fell face first into the ruby red liquid. _

_Angela helped me sit up. "Please go, River. You'll get into trouble."_

_I stared at her. "Angie…I'm gonna stay…cops can do whatever they want with me."_

_"__You're my hero," she whispered. She rushed over to Peter with something to stop the bleeding. "Come home soon, okay?"_

_I pulled myself up on the wall and limped out towards the door. When I came outside I could hear screaming and sirens in the distance. I curled my hands._

* * *

I woke up in a cold sweat.

Always a cold sweat.

For a moment there I thought that I was blind and couldn't see a damn thing only to realise that my face was covered in paper. Lots of paper. I groaned and rolled over only to hit the ground with a thud.

Someone laughed above me.

I pulled the paper off my face and looked up, meeting piercing blue eyes framed by a stubborn face with a permanent five o'clock shadow. "Damn it, Greyson. Fuck you!"

Dick Greyson, the annoying, childish former boy-wonder Robin turned Nightwing looked down at me with a lopsided grin. "If you wish, Quinn," he chuckled, pulling me up off the ground. "You fell asleep again. You should really sleep in a bed you know."

I shook my head. "No-no sleep-too many dreams." I started gathering up the papers, pausing only to look at the deranged picture of the Joker staring back at me. I'd been studying up on Gotham City's pantheon of deranged superheros for almost a month and a half now. The file on the Joker was huge, he was a psychopath who would kill anything and anyone that got in his way. His accomplice, Harleen Quinzel or Harley Quinn was about as psychotic as the Joker. Gotham City had a way of making me collapse giggling at all the masked crazies running around.

"Well have a shower," Dick told me, "Bruce has visitors that he wants you to meet. You smell like a bar."

I raised an eyebrow. "A sexy bar."

Dick snorted. It was a somewhat attractive snort. "In your dreams, Quinn."

"Frequently," I shot back. I pulled my shirt off and headed towards the shower attached to my bedroom. I was still sporting a bit of a limp which is why I wasn't allowed to fight yet-Bruce had me on tactical support so whilst Batman and Nightwing got to have the fun, I was stuck in the Bat Cave developing a fondness for Alfred's ice tea. "Stop looking at my ass," I retorted.

"But it's perfect," Dick pouted.

Ever since turning up on Wayne Manors doorstep weeks ago, Dick and I were engaged in a endless battle of witty flirts. I think he wanted to sleep with me but sleeping in Roy's old red hoodie was a turn off-I'd heard him tell Bruce.

I still loved Roy Harper even though we weren't together, but with everything that happened-the lies and the countless lives that were tragically cut short on the night of the Undertaking-I couldn't let go. Taking a quick shower, I found myself smelling like sandalwood not vodka.

Alfred had laid out a blood red dress for me-I can never live without a butler again. Never.

As I came down the stairs, I could hear three voices in Bruce's study. Two were Bruce and Dick-the other was unknown.

"Hey," I called out, letting myself into the study.

Bruce smiled. "You look refreshed, River. I asked Dick to bring you down cause I want you to meet a friend of mine."

I glanced over at the friend. He was tall with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He fit in well with the dark, broody boys club Bruce and Dick had going on. "Hi," I smiled. "River Quinn."

"Clark Kent," he replied, holding his hand out for me to shake. He turned to Bruce. "I'm taking a big chance here, are you sure she's okay?"

He nodded. "Clark is from Metropolis," Bruce told me.

I raised an eyebrow and my jaw dropped. "No freaking way! What are you doing here?" Only in exile would I meet Superman.

"Bruce informs me that you need some more training," Clark Kent answered. "I thought I'd come and see what you've got and if you're good enough for the League."

"What League?" I inquired.

Bruce smiled-well as much of a smile that Bruce Wayne could muster. "The Justice League."


	2. Chapter 2

**++++++ I think I may be back in the game ++++++**

**Two**

I helped myself to a glass of scotch and sat down on the couch beside Dick to get a better look at Clark Kent aka Superman. He was tall and built like a brick shit house - definitely fit in here with the broody boys club. They should get t-shirts.

I giggled to myself and took a sip.

Clark raised an eyebrow.

"She spent five years on an island in the middle of nowhere," Dick told him, "ignore her. She's crazy."

Clark sat down across from Dick and myself as Bruce hovered over the three of us. "Tell me a little about yourself, Miss Quinn."

"You first," I shot back. I sat forward a little, "tell you what, I'll answer one of your questions and you can answer one of mine. Than we can get this little job interview underway. Deal?"

He hesitated than nodded. "Where are you from?"

"Starling City born and raised till I was sixteen," I replied. "Till I got shipwrecked on an island run by criminals. You?"

"Smallville," Clark replied.

I snorted into my glass. "Try again, Sup's. Where are you from? I take out bad guys for a living so I need to know whether or not they are in fact bad guys. I know when someone is lying. My psychotic mentor taught me that. So, try again, where are you from?"

Clark looked at Bruce.

He nodded.

Clark cleared his throat. "Can I trust you?"

I shrugged. "Probably not. At the moment I don't know you and you don't know me so neither of us can trust each other. Can we?" I sat my glass on the coffee table.

He paused. "I was raised in Smallville, but-I was born on the planet Krypton."

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me? Did you just say planet? As in you're an alien? From space? Do you travel in a blue telephone box?"

Now Clark just looked confused.

"Doctor Who?" I asked him. Seeing the look on his face I shook my head. "God-none geeks, man. I tell you. So you're an alien from the planet Krypton who grew up in a farming community?" I had to admit, I was certainly sceptical about the whole thing. I just though Superman was this crazy guy with special government powers, never though he was an alien. I don't know how I feel about that.

Clark nodded.

"Prove it," I ordered. I sat back and crossed my arms in a 'that's final' gesture.

"Not in my house," Bruce cut in.

He continued to tell me about himself and I answered any questions he had, including the fact that unlike the three heroes in the room, I was a killer. We continued to trade banter when Alfred came into the study.

"Master Bruce," Alfred cut in, opening the curtains. "You've been requested."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll man the cave like a mushroom." I stood up and took the stairs to Bat Cave, I hated taking the elevator. It took a little longer, so by the time I got there, Bruce was working over the computer. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Arkham," Dick replied. "Joker broke in, he's letting prisoners out. The place is a mess."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Why doesn't someone just put a bullet in his head and be done with it?"

Bruce ignored me. "Did you bring your suit?" he asked Clark.

"Want some help?" he answered.

"Well the three of us can't handle this," Bruce replied. "River's knee is strong enough to take being out on the field again but we still don't have enough muscle."

"Think of this as an exercise in teamwork," Dick joked.

"Wait a minute," I called out. "So I can come?" I asked. "I'm not a mushroom anymore?"

Bruce nodded. "You can come. Just be aware of your limits, River. And also be aware that if the press gets images of you, your friends will know where you are."

I shrugged. "I don't care-I get to fight!" I ambushed him with a hug and rushed off to the case that held my suit. I felt a certain aspect of pride in the fact that my suit sat there beside Batman's, Nightwing's, Robin's and the former Batgirl.

"She's happy?" Clark frowned, confused.

Dick shrugged. "That's my girl."

"In your dreams!" I shot back. "Better suit up or I'll leave you behind!"

And I was very serious about that.

* * *

Why does it always rain around Arkham Asylum?

It's like the weather gods keep it in a permanent state of dismal and dull just enough to drive the inmates more insane than what they are. Personally I love the feel of the rain against my skin.

"You look happy," Nightwing noted as we sat on the walls overlooking the asylum.

"I love the rain," I replied. "Don't get to do this very often."

"Can the small talk," Batman ordered. "Shade, you're with me. Nightwing, you're with Superman. Shade and I will go after the Joker and Harley, you two get the rest of the prisoners."

"Oh joy," Nightwing retorted. "Just what I always wanted. Thanks Bats."

I followed Batman, jumping over the wall and landing in a roll before launching to my feet. I could practically feel the adrenaline flowing through me. It was like I was fighting in the streets of Starling City. I was in the urban jungle again. The first inmate that came running my way, I ducked underneath him and thrust upwards, breaking his nose. I slammed his head against the wall and continued on following the Bat.

Drawing my boe-staff off my back, I twisted it in two and carved my own path through the inmate's side-by-side with Batman. My knee was a little twitchy and achy from the cold but otherwise I was handling this as well as I could.

Batman knocked an inmate aside and finally we could see a giant, overgrown crocodile wearing people clothing guarding a door. "Joker's in there," he growled. "As long as he gets something to eat, Killer Crock will act as Joker's guard dog."

I gulped. "Well fuck me sideways with a rake," I muttered, "see what happens when you throw crocodiles down the sewer?"

"You'll be fine," he assured me. "Just watch out for the tail."

"Aim for the eyes," I replied. "Weak spot. Not the first killer animal I've ever faced. But this is certainly the first one that walks like people."

"He is a person," Batman answered me back as the two of us eyed the crocodile. "His name is Waylon Jones, he was born with a medical condition called Epidermolytic Hyperkeratosis. It causes his appearance to take on that of a crocodile."

_Gazuntite_, I thought to myself.

Batman removed a small pellet looking thing from his utility and threw it at Killer Croc's feet. When it hit the ground, it exploded in a cloud of purple mist. Seconds later, Croc hit the ground and was soon snoring.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Night, night." I stepped over his body, trailing after the Bat. The moment he opened the door, a sickening laugh met my ears.

_HA HA HA HA HA HA_

"It's always clowns," I muttered to myself. Sitting on some kind of makeshift throne made from boxes and the bodies of Arkham staff sat the Joker. A deranged clown with the white bleached skin, bright green hair and a sickening red smile made from blood painted his face.

Adorning his arm was a woman wearing a red and black jester's costume. She was holding a huge red and yellow sledge hammer.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the bat," Joker sneered. "I love it when old batsy makes a house call! Don't we, Harley?"

"Sure thing Mr J," she grinned. "Batsy has a girlfriend! She ain't dressed like a bat. What gives?"

"You can't play!" Joker yelled at me. "Bats and birds only! Go away." He aimed a guard's gun and me but I threw a throwing knife at him, hitting him in the hand. Joker gripped his hand and howled in pain.

"You hurt Mr J!" Harley screamed. She lifted her hammer and charged me. The jester didn't even bat an eyelid at Batman as she rushed passed her and straight at the Joker. "Im gonna kill ya!"

I dodged her hammer and smacked her in the face with my baton, the other half hitting her in the chest.

She screamed and dropped the hammer. I kicked it away and then kicked her in the chest for good measure.

"You're a disappointment to your mother!" Joker hissed at Harley as he dodged Batman. "Later Harley!" He grabbed a bar above his head and lifted himself right up through a grate I didn't even notice.

"Mr J!" Harley yelled as I tied her hands behind her back.

"Not going after him?" I asked.

Batman looked down at Harley. "He'll be back soon enough. I'm sure Nightwing and Superman need some help. Find Harley a cell and toss her in there."

I the short time I'd spent in Wayne Manor, I had learnt that it was useless to argue with Bruce Wayne. I hauled Harley to her feet and started the search for a cell. It was going to be a long, weird ass night.

**++++++ I shall be doing a poll for Charlie Allen's hero name ++++++**


	3. Chapter 3

**++++++ I'm feeling so generous ++++++**

**Three**

To the men in Wayne Manor I was River Quinn, to the outside world I was Elizabeth Nix. It was the name I used to keep myself off the grid and find myself a casual job in a tiny bookshop in the middle of Gotham, it was quiet and I liked it. There was no computers, no technology, just me and the little old woman, Nancy, who ran the store and paid me in pennies.

Not that I needed the money.

Dick was perplexed as to why I wanted to work, I liked to keep myself busy.

I liked working in the bookshop, I read a new book every day. It wasn't what I was used to working at Bìnàn where there'd been teenagers running through every day. I often found my own mind wondering what Roy and Felicity were up to but that would only lead to me thinking about how I'd left in the middle of the night leaving just a note.

The price for having two lives was one I thought I could pay, but as it turns out, when they came to collect, I couldn't cut it. My mother was dead, her blood was on my hands. Every time I looked at them I could see the red, I could see the one responsible for making my sisters orphans and Peter a widow despite the fact it was Peter who shot her. It didn't matter that she was a part of this whole Undertaking, she was my mother and I'd been responsible for killing her.

Than I'd run away.

I'm a coward, not a hero.

Bruce and Clark were trying to turn me into a hero but I didn't know if I had the guts to be what they wanted me to be.

"Lizzy, dear," Nancy called out, cutting through my thoughts as I was stacking books in the non-fiction section.

I blinked and looked down from the top of the ladder. "Oh-sorry, Mrs Archer. I'm a million miles away."

She chucked. "No problems, dear. If you could close up tonight, that would be a godsend. It's my son's birthday today, you see," she started, feeling the need to explain herself.

"No need to explain," I smiled, assuring her. "If you leave now you can catch the bus home and miss the storm that's supposed to come. Saves you having to pay for a taxi."

The elderly woman beamed at me. "You're such a wonderful girl, Lizzy. I feel like I should be paying you more."

I shook her off. "Don't worry about it."

"There's an envelope behind the till," Nancy advised me, "around six some men will come and ask for the payment, give them the money and they'll go away. There should be three thousand in there. That's all they take."

I raised an eyebrow. "Payment for what?" I asked her.

"Don't worry your pretty head over it," Nancy smiled nervously. "Just give them the money and they'll go away."

I sighed. "Okay. Have some cake for me. I'll see you tomorrow."

Again, Nancy smiled at me as she shuffled off down the crowded isle. I assumed that this meant my employer was paying money to the mob for store protection. Bloody hell Batman was doing a shit job of cleaning up this city, or was it big time criminals he was after, forgetting about the little guys?

Note to self-yell at Bruce when I get back.

I finished stacking the biographies on Bruce Wayne and slid down the side of the ladder, hitting the ground with a grin. I have mad skills.

Around five thirty I started to shut up, locking the doors and cashing up the till. If I was late again for training, Clark would have me running laps til midnight. I'd forgotten how nice it was to do the little things. At ten to six, there was a knock on the door and I looked up to see three guys standing there glaring at me like I was fresh meat. The fact that one of them was dressed to the nines in a cheap suit made me laugh. The other two looked like typical gangsters-greasy hair, leather jackets, scruffy beards and beer guts to boot.

I rolled my eyes and went to let the guys in.

"Where's the old woman?" the guy in the suit snapped at me.

"Son's," I replied. I stepped behind the counter, carefully observing the men as they positioned themselves around the store. My eyes didn't leave them as I found the envelope and held it out to him. "Three thousand," I spoke.

The guy snatched the envelope off me and opened it. He took his time to count the bills and then tucked it inside his jacket. "Two, you're short a grand."

"Well than you need to count again," I shot back, "cause I counted three grand."

He glared at me. "New in town?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" I asked him, crossing my arms across my chest.

"You'll soon learn to hold your tongue," he warned me.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Just count your money again." I leant back against the wall behind me and watched him count the money again. Once again, three grand.

"Only two," he snapped. He looked sideways at the guy with the blonde hair and nodded.

He came towards me and I waited until he was in arms reached before I struck out. I slammed the side of my hand into his throat, cutting off his air before punching him in the bottom of the chin than in the face. I grabbed a bookend off the counter and used it to shatter his knee cap before throwing it at the other guy.

The man in the suit was holding a gun up at my head, when I saw it, I laughed. "Jesus, a gun, look at me, I'm quivering in fear."

The other enforcer came up beside me, hand clutching his bleeding head. "You're dead, bitch."

I rolled my eyes. "If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard that I'd be a millionaire." I was, but that's beside the point. "I'm not scared of you," I warned him, "I've lost too much already. You're just a speck on the wall, a fly, an annoyance. Shoot me if you want but I've a body full of scars that proves I'll survive."

He smirked and raised the gun a little higher only for something to hit him on the back of the head. When his body dropped, standing there was Nightwing. I raised an eyebrow as he proceeded to knock out the last gang member. "And who the hell are you supposed to be? My little blue bird?" I asked him.

"Nightwing," he corrected me, a slight cocky smirk on his face. It was the same arrogant, cocky smirk that Roy would get when he knew he'd done something that I loved.

"Well, Nightwing," I sighed, "clean up the trash. I've got to close up. Nancy will freak out. And If I'm late, I'll get my ass kicked."

He laughed. "You can certainly handle yourself with the big guy. I don't think you need my help."

"And yet you stick your considerable large nose in business that doesn't concern you," I told him as he came behind the counter. I knelt down and pulled the envelope out of suit guy's pocket. After a quick count I growled. "Three grand. Fucking moron. Your gang members need to learn how to count."

"That's the problem with Gotham City education," Nightwing told me. He sat the envelope on the counter and pinned me up against the back counter. "Some don't know left from right…and speak of left from right, the dashing hero's gonna kiss you right on the lips," he smirked.

I ducked underneath him. "I'll see you later, blue bird."

"No kiss?" Dick pouted.

"No kiss," I shot back, waving at him as I walked down the hall. "Later."

Honestly it's like a cat playing with pigeons and I love it.


	4. Chapter 4

**++++++ Gosh I am super, super sorry about the wait! Life goes on unfortunately. I will have a day once a week to write once again as my 6 1/2 month old will be going to his fathers once a week now. I have this story pretty much planned out already. Notes have been written and chapters outlined. Please enjoy this chapter and thank you for your patience ++++++**

**Four**

_Oh my god. _

_Oh my god. _

_Oh my god. _

_I'm gonna die._

_I'm gonna die. _

_I'm gonna die._

_Clark's going to kill me._

I bent over with my head between my legs breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. Since dawn I'd been running laps of the gigantic garden in Wayne Manor whilst Bruce and Clark sat on the balcony and watched me. Occasionally he'd zoom on down if I got lazy and give me a fresh round of inspiration. I wasn't in the same shape that I was in on the Island and I was actually ashamed of that.

Starling City had made me lazy.

"I think you're done for today," Clark spoke from behind me.

I jumped. "Jesus, Clark. You need a cat bell or something. Announce your presence. Wave a banner. Light a torch. Give me water."

"Will a big neon sign give you sufficient warning?" Clark inquired, handing me a bottle of water.

I gave him a thumbs up before tipping the water over my head. "I'm so out of shape-ridiculously so out of shape. This is punishment for being so lazy isn't it?"

Clark chuckled. "River-what Bruce and I have in mind requires the hero to be in top shape all of the time. You are out of shape."

"I'd say she's in perfect shape," Dick grinned, leaning against a tree. He had been on Batcave duty-I was actually looking forward to that. "I've just been listening to the police scanner, Harley broke out of Arkham-again."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do we-do we go after her?"

Dick shook his head. "Bruce has a meeting he has to go to. He said we can go tonight."

"Clark?" I frowned, clearly disappointed.

He shook his head. "Sorry half-pint. But I have a life to live myself. The paper thinks I'm I Gotham writing a piece on Bruce Wayne. I also want to all Lois."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, go. Be happy." I waved him off.

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Movies?" he questioned.

I sighed. "No thanks. Mind if I watch the computers for a while? You can have some lunch and a rest. If anything happens I promise I'll call you."

He paused. "Okay. Sure. I'll go make a sandwich."

"More like Alfred will," I laughed, following him into the mansion. Dick stuck his finger up at me as I made my way towards the study at the desk entrance to the Batcave. I brought up some cartoons on one of the monitors and sat there eating Dick's lollies.

Gotham was very quiet during the day.

"_Miss Quinn?_" Alfred spoke over the monitor.

"What's up?" I asked, chewing on a red vine.

"_You have a phone call coming through from the Oracle_," he advised me.

I was yet to meet Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl but we had spoken on the phone several times before. "Put her through." There was a slight click on the phone and I heard Barbara speaking. "Afternoon, O."

"_You have someone wanting a visit_," she advised me. "_I was at the Natural History Museum today when I ran into a little girl. Brunette. Big green eyes. She bumped into me and dropped a photo of you out a text book. Her name was Molly._"

My heart stopped in my chest. Molly was here in Gotham.

"_Your sister wants to see you_," Barbara told me. "_She's still here with her class. I can wait for you._"

I paused. "Just let me get changed. I'll be there in ten." I jumped up and ran to my room to change out of my workout clothes. Cutting myself off from my old world was easy-until it came to my sisters. I'd move heaven and earth for those girls.

* * *

The first thing I saw was Molly sitting on a marble bench with her legs swinging over the edge in a pair of mini converse.

"River?" Barbara spoke.

I looked around and then spotted the ginger in a wheelchair. "Oh-hi Barbara."

She smiled a little. "Not what you expected?"

I shook my head. "I don't mean to be rude-"

Barbara smiled. "I'll tell you what happened, one day. Until then, Molly. She told me she was here on a history excursion. I saw the picture when she dropped her history books. She misses you. A lot."

I rubbed my head. "Barbara-"

"You need to see her," Barbara advised me. She turned around and I watched her go off down the corridor before turning back to Molly.

Molly turned the page of her book, she completely ignored the class behind her and focused on what she was studying. She paused and looked closed at the page she was reading before looking up. He little jaw dropped. "RIVER!" Molly screamed. She jumped off the bench, dropping the book and ran at me. She practically knocked me off my feet when she dove into my arms.

I held her tightly as tears prickled my eyes. "I'm so, so, sorry, Molly. Please forgive me."

Molly sniffled. "You didn't come when we buried mum."

I knelt down and held her in front of me. "Molly-you have to understand-"

"Mum was bad," Molly grumbled. "I know. Me and Angela know she was a bad person. It's been on TV for weeks how she helped kill hundreds of people. Both you and Oliver have gone. Starling's getting bad again."

I paused. "Oliver?"

Molly rolled her red eyes. "I know how to put two and two together. You're Shade which means Oliver is the Hood. Well the Hood is gone and so is Oliver. It's all over TV that his mum helped destroy the Glades." She sat down on another bench. "You should have been there when we buried mum. It wasn't fair."

I sighed. "Molly-you have to understand…I helped Peter kill our mother. I have to live with that. I wanted to stop her, but-"

"You and mum are as stubborn as each other," Molly scowled. "She wouldn't have listened even if Frankie tried."

I laughed a little. "No. No she wouldn't have."

"Are you helping Batman?" she suddenly asked me.

I paused. "I suppose you can keep a secret, so yes. Yes I am. But more like he is helping me. I lost myself along the way, Molly. Batman, Superman, Nightwing, they're all superheroes. I'm not. I'm a vigilante murderer. Batman is helping me become a hero like him."

Molly hugged me. "You've always been my hero, River."

I smiled and kissed her head. "You should get back to your class."

"We're leaving in a few days," Molly pouted. "You have to come to our final diner. We're having it an Wayne Manor."

I hit my hand to my head. "Molly-" Behind Molly I saw a man walking in wearing a two toned suit. I stood up as his henchmen came in behind him. "Two-Face," I whispered. "Molly-"

He raised his gun and fired it at the ceiling. Everyone screamed and started running. Only to find the exits were blocked. "Everybody on the ground!" he shouted.

"Well fuck this for a joke," I muttered.

Molly tugged me down beside her. I looked around and spotted a vent in the wall. I grabbed her sleeve and pulled her to the vent. A quick kick and the cover was off. "Go," I ordered.

She shook her head. "No!"

"Go!" I shouted, grabbing the attention of a henchman. He came over as Molly vanished into the vent. I turned around and punched him in the face. "Guess it's party time."

**++++++ Sorry - cliffhanger ++++++**


	5. Chapter 5

**++++++ Hey it's Tuesday, have a chapter! ++++++**

**Five**

Sitting in the back of the ambulance I watched as Clark and Bruce spoke with Commissioner Gordon, they were having a heated discussion-had to be about me. There was no way it wasn't.

When I saw the three of them look toward me I rolled me eyes.

Of course it was.

"You look like crap," Molly pointed out, sitting beside me, kicking her feet over the edge of the ambulance. She looked back down at my phone and continued playing with it.

Shockingly I didn't feel like crap. I felt alive.

"How's your arm?" the paramedic questioned when she finished bandaging the knife wound. "Is it too tight?"

I shook my head. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

She smiled. "Look-what you did was a good thing-Two Face is dangerous and Arkham is beyond a joke. The people of this city have relied on the Batman for far too long. They've gotten lazy."

I snorted. "I'm not from Gotham."

She shook her head. "Figures. I'm Gwen."

"River," I answered back. "Thanks for the first aid job."

Gwen the paramedic walked away from me and Molly elbowed me in one of my bruised ribs. "River-if you wanted to run away to Gotham than maybe you want to run away again cause this is all over Twitter and Facebook. The news got here pretty fast. Oh look-Angela re-tweeted as she's friends with Thea who is dating Roy-" Molly stopped dead mid-sentence. "Shit."

I got out of the back of the ambulance. "Roy is dating Thea?" I whispered.

Molly nodded cautiously. "Yeah-sorry…I shouldn't have told you. We ran into them a few weeks ago at the Youth Centre."

I pulled my jacket on. "I'll see you later, squirt."

"River your phone!" Molly shouted as I walked away.

That sudden feeling in my chest hurt. It was like being kicked when you're down. It was that feeling of betrayal that you get when the one person you love betrays you-must have been how Roy felt when he found out I was Shade.

I walked away from the scene, Bruce would tell the police where I was if they wanted another statement. I stuck my hands in my pocket, one hand wrapping around a large object in my hand. Bruce would kill me for keeping it, if not for me, but for Clark, but for now I needed to go over what had happened in my head.

* * *

_"__Go!" I shouted, grabbing the attention of a henchman. He came over as Molly vanished into the vent. I turned around and punched him in the face. "Guess it's party time."_

_He stumbled backwards and raised his gun at me, I swept his legs out from underneath him, his head hitting the floor hard. Grabbing a chunk of his hair, I slammed his head down again and again until he was unconscious. Taking a moment to tie my hair back and grab his gun, I crawled backwards until I was out of sight than pulled the gun apart, taking the ammo with me. _

_Behind me I could hear the sound of soft sobbing and Two Face laughing, glass being smashed and the occasional scream. I guess they were after the artwork or jewels. I crouched, making my way up the stairs, careful not to be seen. I sent Dick and Bruce a text message, only to have it rejected. I had a signal before. "Well FUBAR," I muttered. What a time to have no reception. _

_"__Would you look at that," Two Face laughed. "A Duel-Coloured Jewel. In one light it looks purple, in the other light it looks blue."_

_I paused. In Geography in year nine I'd done a project on the Janus Jewel, pillaged by Romans in some year I couldn't remember. I'm not a walking history text book. I glanced over the edge of the rail and stopped. _

_That's Kryptonian. _

_The symbol in the stone-that's the same symbol as the one that Clark wears on his suit-we've argued for a few hours-looks like an S to me but it means Hope in his language. _

_I still don't see how. _

_"__Hey boss! We got a runner!" _

_I glanced up. Oh shit. Launching myself into a run, I took off across the Roman History section of the museum. _

_A gun fired off, these guys had no idea how to aim. I grabbed a spear off the wall and hid behind a pillar, waiting for him to run passed. When he did, I knocked him down and hit him in the face. "It's like playing Space Invaders-easy pickings." Removing his gun, I pulled it apart-well started to until another guy came at me. "Maybe not so much." I flung my arm out and grabbed a banner, using it to slide down, right in front of Two Face. "Hi, I'm River. I'll take that thanks." I kicked the jewel out of his hands, catching it. "You need some sever therapy Harvey," I grinned, patting him on the side of the face. _

_He growled and raised his gun at me. _

_"__Ah, shit," I laughed, ducking and running away, taking out a few henchmen with me. I dropped the jewel in my jacket pocket. _

_When I skidded to a halt around the corner, I came across two women, one wearing white and the other black. "Well cover me in butter and baste me," I laughed. "Come on sweeties."_

_The one in white launched herself at me with a knife in her hands, she slashed at me, the one in black joining her. _

_I winced in pain as the knife cut through my jacket sleeve and into the muscle in my arm. I grabbed the blonde in a headlock and kicked the other away from me before I hit the blonde's head into the wall. _

_The doors to the museum burst open in front of us we were fighting. SWAT looked slightly perplexed before they started yelling and shouting. _

_I could feel the blood seeping through my clothes. _

_"__You okay miss?" a muffled voice asked me. "There's paramedics outside. Come on."_

_"__River!" Molly screamed, running at me. She was covered in dirt and dust but I didn't care. All I cared about was hoping that SWAT didn't search me. I had to get that jewel to Clark._

* * *

**Roy POV**

It was always busy in the afternoon at Bìnàn, teenagers always wanted to be here be it for studying or for playing games or reading or learning computers, they always wanted to be here. I smiled to myself, River had a big dream for this place and her dream was now a reality.

Ever since the Undertaking, this place had been full of life, even adults came to spend time here, with Felicity's insistence, we'd implemented a program with free meals for those in the Glades, Felicity had spent some of Bìnàn's funds in purchasing another building, in record time it had been brought up to code and turned into the Bìnàn Emergency Housing. She was in the process of expanding.

"Mr Harper," squeaked a voice, cutting into my thoughts.

I glanced over my desk and looked at the girl, her name was Kelly. I called her Felicity's shadow. For a twelve-year-old girl she was amazing at computers and at anything mechanical in general.

"Hey, Kelly," I grinned. "Homework finished?"

She rolled her eyes at me and flicked a strand of her mousy brown hair out of her face. "Duh. I was playing around with news feeds and I found this. Shade's in Gotham City."

Kelly handed me one of the Bìnàn iPad's and I watched a security footage video of Shade fighting with the Batman against the Joker and his twisted girlfriend Harley Quinn. I went to hand it back and she shook her head. "Keep it, "I have to go home."

I paused and then got up to find Felicity who was working on one of her afternoon adult classes. I knocked on the door and waited for her to come out. "Hey-Kelly found River." I handed her the tablet and Felicity watched the video.

"Okay," she sighed. "That's one vigilante down. Now we need to find Oliver. I'll pack a bag and we can head to Gotham tomorrow. Starling needs her heroes back."

**++++++ We shall have some River/Dick lemons soon hehe...well maybe Nightwing/Shade lemons first ++++++**


	6. Chapter 6

**++++++ Here have some lemons! **

**I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors as I have no beta and I was in a little hurry as I have to leave to pick my son up in like ten minutes, I desperately wanted to get this chapter out to you as you're all so wonderfully paitient ++++++**

**Six**

Roy and Thea.

The words sat on the edge of my tongue in disgust.

Our separation was just as much my fault as it was his but it didn't mean I had to be happy with the idea.

After the event at the museum, I wandered back to Wayne Manor to grab my suit and Roy's hoodie. Before I suited up, I wrapped it and boxed it before addressing it to Bìnàn, I didn't need it anymore. I didn't want it. Not with images of Roy and Thea getting dirty in satin sheets made me punch through a computer screen.

I leant over the edge of a gargoyle the overhang from Gotham City Hall and stared down at the busy night street below. The little ants had no idea about the people behind the masks. I am complex and complicated.

Bruce is a playboy, he has a different girl on his arm with every event and always has a dashing smile on his face. But on the inside he's in pain, his body is a battlefield of scars and wounds, his mind still suffers from the deaths of his parents and the suffering that his line of Robins and Batgirls have gone through.

Dick is just the same. Seeing his entire family killed had a toll on him. He's just as scared and bruised as Bruce's body. I licked my lips. Maybe now that I was done pining for something I could no longer have, I could have something that I now wanted.

"Do we need to call you a Councillor or something you suicidal maniac?" Nightwing spoke behind me. "Suicide isn't the answer you know?"

I laughed. It came out sounding slightly psychotic. "I'm not contemplating suicide, you fucking idiot. I'm contemplating free sex with a close friend."

He smirked and strolled up to the edge. "The big man is out of his mind. You took your tracker out of your boot."

I snorted. "Didn't want to be found. I'm mourning the loss of my former lover. Whilst I sat there and thought about him night after night after night-he found himself another woman to fuck."

"So you're angry?" he wondered.

"No I'm pissed," I shot back. "I'm pissed that I could have been fucking you instead of mourning my first love." I stood up on the gargoyle and kept my eyes on the ground a couple hundred feet down below. "I stole something from the museum. I need you to give it to Clark for me. I won't be home tonight." I dug the stone out of my pocket. "It's what Two-Face was after. It's from his planet or has something to do with his planet."

Nightwing took the stone and as he did, he grabbed my hand and yanked me down to the roof. "You're stuck with me, Shade. I'm staying here tonight. Oracle told me your little sister was here. Said you might need a shoulder to beat the crap out of or cry on."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't cry. But as long as you're with me-you could help me find Harley."

I could have sworn that Nightwing rolled his eyes.

"The big man said to leave it," he replied.

"So this is his city?" I snorted. "The big guy lets his villains run around and when they get caught they just escape. This is why we killed our bad guys." I pulled my hand away and jumped back up on the edge of the wall. "Catch me if you can."

I spread my arms and fell backward off the building. I heard Nightwing call my name as I caught the fire escape to stop my fall. Screw the grappling hooks and capes that turn into gliders, there's nothing better than free falling. As I hung there, I watched Nightwing come after me which prompted me to let go and fall once more.

I shrieked with laughter when Nightwing collided with me and swung across the city. He dropped me on a neighbouring roof and landed with the ease of a cat. "YOU ASEHOLE!" I shouted, trying not to laugh. I hit him and he fell over.

"You're the one with a death wish!" he roared back.

"It's called free falling!" I yelled back. "I used to do it on the Island all the time." I ran my hands through my wig and growled.

"Falling into a pond is different than splattering your brain on the streets of Gotham," Nightwing shouted. "For the life of me I can't understand why Clark and Bruce would want YOU in the league!"

I paused. "Hand on. You-you didn't get asked?" He was jealous. "Look-I can't help that they picked me. I didn't even want to be picked. I would have been happy with what I was."

"What? A murderer?" he sneered.

I punched him.

I punched him in the face. "Better than a jealous little prick!" I snapped. This was not the way I had planned my evening. I was gonna brood a little, pretend to be the night, look good a little than go after Harley. I sighed and held my hands up, "look-Nightwing. I don't understand what the big guy wants with me. He's a hero, Superman's a hero, I'm a vigilante with a stubborn streak, created on an island and moulded by a psychopath."

He sighed. "He took you in because you remind him of himself when he was just starting out." Nightwing patted my shoulder and came to stand up beside me. "You're a hero. You just don't know it yet. I've got your back, always will. We can fight with each other or against each other but I've always got your back. We're partners. And when the big guy sends you off to Gateway City next month we'll still be partners."

I spun around. "What?"

"Oops," he hissed. "Sorry…I wasn't supposed to tell you that." He sighed. "Just pretend you didn't hear that. Please?"

I sighed. "You have no idea what it's like not to be wanted…Roy's moved on, Bruce is shipping me off, you're making promised you can't keep."

"You're wanted," Nightwing replied in almost a whisper. "It's just that relationships don't always last when you're a hero. Unless you're with another hero than it doesn't always last."

"You offering?" I smirked.

"You accepting?" he shot back.

I moved in to kiss him.

The moment our lips touched, I felt a shock of electricity surge through my body. He tasted like blueberries and whisky…I love blueberries. After what seemed like forever, the softly falling rain separated us. I cupped his face, "we should head back."

"I don't care," Nightwing whispered in a husky voice.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to do it here?" I asked him.

He smirked and kissed me again. This time deeper. Nightwing found the zipper at the back of my corset, slowly pulling it down whilst licking my lips.

"Fuck that," I growled, showing him down to the ground.

In a flurry of growls and groans, the rain was now falling against our naked skin. There were bits and pieces of our suits scattered all over the roof. I'd lost my wig but we were both still wearing our masks. Nightwing smirked and flipped, I hit the ground with a gasp and he lifted my leg, kissing each and every scar he could find, the rain suddenly fell heavy. I revealed in the feel of the rain against my naked skin.

I was on the island once again.

An animalistic guttered growl escaped his throat making me whimper before Nightwing pushed me down on the seat so that he could flick off the rest of his clothing. He spread my legs just enough so that I had no trouble in accommodating him and as he bent over me to kiss me he slipped inside.

I cried out in both surprise and a slight bit of pain, it had certainly been a while since I'd had sex. The only sound I could hear was the sound of flesh and groans mixed in with the rain as well as the soft sounds of the city below. But neither of us were focused on that at all.

I hit my head on the door when Nightwing flicked a tongue across my nipple, sending shivers down my spine. The slight pain edged away quicker than it came. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him further inside me as he fucked me. My ears were buzzing and my vision was blurry, I truly struggled to focus on anything but the blue bird who was just deliciously sinful.

His thrusts grew wilder and faster for a moment before he slammed himself home, exploding inside me. I could feel him as he emptied himself only to let out some kind of pathetic strangled cry when he left me.

He slumped down beside me with a sudden laugh.

I punched him in the side. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" I sneered with a smirk.

Nightwing pointed to the surrounding buildings.

One of them had a security camera and it was pointed right at the roof.

I dissolved in a fit of laughter, suddenly the world seemed a little lighter.

**++++++ So-Roy has moved on with Thea. I'm at a loss whether I keep Roy and Thea together or separate them. Do I put River and Dick in a relationship or just keep them as buddies with benefits? You're ideas are my drugs! Love you all! ++++++**


	7. Chapter 7

**++++++ Afternoon peeps! I know I've been out of circuit for a while but I've been focusing on some of my other fan fictions for a bit. **

**My Marvelverse FF - Infinity **

**and a new Twilight FF called Blood Moon. **

**I'm borrowing elements from previous comics and TV shows in regards to existing characters.**

**Anyway...I do not own...pity...**

**Enjoy ++++++**

**Seven**

When the two of us returned to the Bat Cave, both Bruce and Clark were waiting with matching frowns on their faces. "Where the hell have you two been?" Bruce roared. "You both took your trackers offline."

"Out," I replied. "Needed a little time to myself. Something which I am sorely lacking in these days." I took my mask and wig off, all of me was soaked to the bone as was Dick.

"Oh, time to yourself?" Bruce scowled. He hit a button on the keyboard closest to him and a video appeared on the screen.

Dick and I looked at each other and instead of freaking, we both burst into laughter.

"You think this is funny?" Bruce asked us. "You're lucky Alfred found this before anyone else. We had to remotely wipe the security cameras so this didn't get out into the media."

"Relax," I suggested, rolling my eyes. "Dick told me about all your little romps with Selina Kyle. I know you hold me to some kind of Bruce Wayne/Batman standards but don't. I appreciate the training and the hep but I think it's time for me to move on before I get shipped off to Gateway City."

Bruce rubbed his temples. "Okay…Clark, Dick, clear the room, River and I need to talk."

Dick rubbed my shoulder and he left with Clark.

I sat down. "What are you doing Bruce?" I questioned.

Bruce pulled up a chair and sat down across from me. "Our league isn't complete. So far it' just myself, Superman, Wonder Woman and a good friend J'onn J'onzz. You will meet him soon. He's somewhat shy of humans."

"You found me in a cage fighting match," I reminded him, "what potential do you see in me? Dick said he thinks I remind you of a younger you."

Bruce nodded. "You do. When I first started I was full of anger. I was rough. I didn't kill like yourself but I came close to it on many occasions. After what you did in Starling you are a hero."

"Oliver's the hero," I shot back, "I'm the sidekick. As much as I hate to say it I walk in Oliver Queen's shadow."

Bruce stood up. "You're having doubts," he shrugged, "I can see that. Perhaps I can show you something that will give you a little perspective on what we're fighting for as heroes." He pushed a large green button underneath a Perspex case with a grin. "Take a deep breath, River. It's still a work in progress."

I took a deep breath as instructed only to find myself suddenly feeling very light and sick to the stomach. An odd white light surrounded me and the last thing I could see was Bruce completely and utterly enveloped by the same light surrounding me.

When I hit the ground my knees gave way and I fell with a thud. What little there was in my stomach came up. I cleared my lips with my hand and stood up on uneasy legs. "Bruce-" I stopped when I realised I was no longer in the Bat Cave anymore.

My eyes widened in shock and awe the moment I saw it.

Earth.

Thousands of miles below me was Earth

She was blue, such a beautiful colour blue, so tranquil, so fragile.

So indescribably beautiful.

Half of her was covered in cold, black whilst the other half was covered by the sun. A sun that when on Earth looked like a simple star but was now blazing brightly in the coldness of space.

I could see the moon, the hard rock I once thought as a five year old was made out of cheese and the home of Mr Squiggle. My hands touched the glass, the only thing that kept all the air in this room and me from the cold, death of space.

"Does it put things into perspective for you?" asked a voice that did not belong to Bruce.

I turned and screamed. The creature standing beside me was over six foot tall with green skin and red eyes. The sudden fright turned into the need to fight. I swung my leg out, knocking the creature to the ground.

"River!" Bruce shouted. He rushed over. "River! J'onn-are you okay?"

The creature got to his feet. "I am fine, Bruce. My appearance startled you a little at first. Miss Quinn was merely lashing out to protect herself."

I ran my hands through my hair. "J'onn J'onzz?" I asked. "Bruce's shy friend?"

"I would hardly call myself shy," he replied. But yes, I am J'onn J'onzz."

"We're in space?" I asked him, looking back out at the beautiful, blue sphere below us.

"This is the Justice League Watchtower," Bruce informed me. "We borrowed the name from you."

"It's Felicity's," I whispered. "This is what you want to show me?"

Bruce nodded. "What do you think?"

"She's beautiful," I replied.

"This is what we're fighting for River," he told me. "You came back from that island with vengeance in your mind. Revenge for everything that had happened to you and to Oliver and to your father. You fell in love and lost it. But you saved a city. You killed your mother who was part of the death of hundreds. One of the definitions of a hero _is __a person who, in the opinion of others, has __heroic__ qualities or has performed a __heroic__ act and is regarded as a model or ideal_."

I shook my head. "I'm no hero."

"You will be," Bruce replied. "Come with me, I want to show you something else."

I shot J'onn an apologetic look for knocking him to the ground before running off after Bruce. The Dark Knight took me to a kind of locker room, there were several stalls and cases for costumes except for four that were filled. One held a Batman suit, the other a Superman suit, the third a Wonder Woman and the forth was my suit, a different version altogether-this one had a crescent black moon on the chest. "Why a moon?"

"It was Richard's idea," Bruce replied. He looked down at me. "So-do you still want to leave?" he questioned.

I paused, thinking about everything. "I-I'm not sure."

"Think about it," Bruce assured me. "You could stay up here for the rest of the night with J'onn and he'll send you back in the morning?" he suggested.

I nodded with a grin on my face. "Yes! I'd love to."

"There's bunks in a room three doors down," he told me. "And some clothes to change into. I'll see you in the morning."

I followed Bruce back to the transport room. Once he was gone I turned to J'onn. "No offence but you creep me the hell out. All green and shit. You're not like Clark. Where are you from?" I asked him.

"Mars," he replied.

"No way!" I laughed. "Seriously?"

J'onn nodded. "Indeed. The planet is dead now. I am the last of my kind."

I dropped my jaw. I remember an episode of Doctor Who-_I am the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart_. "Can you fight?" I asked him, trying to take his mind off what we were talking about.

"I am indeed proficient in combat," he nodded. "Would you like to spare?"

"Let me get changed!" I grinned.

Truthfully, I'd already made up my mind, I was staying.

I would be a hero.


	8. Chapter 8

**++++++ Hello my peeps. **

**I know it's been uber long since I updated but my muse seemed to have just up and left me. The wench. I shake my fist at her.**

**I did also get distracted by the FanFiction world of Percy Jackson/Twilight and then Harry Potter stuck his head in and said to turn him into a chick and write about it - so I did. **

**But I am pleased to announce that I am back.**

**My muse came back coincidentally on the showing of the collage ad on Fox8 for the new season of Flash/Arrow/Supergirl/DC's Legends of Tomorrow - That I will admit. Cause it gave me a few ideas on what path to send River down. **

**I know the chapter is short but I had this mostly written anyway. If I added what I wanted to add in this chapter it would have been far too long. So I cut it down and put the other part into the next chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter and again, so, so sorry about the hiatus.**

**I do not own ++++++**

**Eight**

It was nice to feel my feet on terra once more.

When I arrived back on Earth I found myself standing in the kitchen in front of Alfred who looks like he was about ready to have a heart attack. "Alfred!" I grinned.

Alfred took his washing up gloves off, rolling his eyes. "Good morning, Miss Quinn. Shall I take your suit back to the cave?"

I handed him back my suit with a smile. "I don't know what I would do without you, Alfred." Grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl, I headed towards Bruce's office only to hear Dick shouting inside. I had assumed that it was Bruce only to realise who was shouting back at him.

It was Roy.

And I was in a good mood.

"Look, Mr Wayne, Mr Greyson, we know she's here," Felicity spoke calmly. "We've been looking for her. She's needed back home. Her family needs her."

"She doesn't want to go home!" Dick shouted.

"Says you pretty boy!" Roy snapped. "We wanna talk to River to we can ask her herself. We know she's here. We know she came here six weeks ago under the name Elizabeth Nix. We know she works in a little bookshop with a woman called Nancy who said she lives here as one of your lost causes."

Lost cause? That made me angry.

"Please, Mr Wayne?" Felicity all but begged. "We want to talk to her. Make sure she's okay. She left pretty quickly after her mother died. Didn't even go to the funeral. We don't think River's in a right state of mind."

"She's saner than you two," Dick scoffed. "You two should piss off back to Starling. Hood-boy here has his own squeeze to get back to."

Silence. "That's none of your business!" Roy suddenly snapped.

I pushed open the office door. "Gee, you can hear the yelling all the way from the kitchen," I mused. "Look what the cat dragged in." I crossed the room and poured myself a glass of scotch, "happy hour somewhere, hey Bruce?"

Felicity jumped up and crossed the room to hug me. "Oh my god I missed you! You should never have left us like that."

Admittedly I hugged her back. "Missed you, F." I did, truthfully, miss that IT Queen smell she had about her.

"Then come home," she whispered. "We need you. Oliver's gone off the radar."

Roy looked me up and down like a piece of meat. His gaze lingered onto the navy blue JL shirt I was wearing and the tracksuit pants that had Justice League written down the side. He didn't say anything but I could see he was itching to.

I pulled away. "Not my problem, Felicity." I finished my drink. I sat it down on the desk. "Might wanna do a bug sweep on the room Bruce, my little IT queen here might bug your office." I ruffled up Felicity's hair.

Felicity paused and looked around. She stared at both Bruce and Dick before covering her mouth in shock and awe. "Oh my god!" She jumped out of her chair. "Oh my god! Oh my god! You're him!" she gasped, pointing at Bruce and gave herself some ears with her fingers. "You're the Bat! Oliver said you were with River before he found her but I never-oh my god!"

"I prefer Bruce," he replied.

My jaw dropped. Bruce Wayne had just told a joke and didn't even crack a laugh.

"River we need you back," Roy pleaded, cutting into a profound historical moment. "They cities gone to crap since you left."

"Since Oliver left," I corrected him. "Roy-you're wasting your breath. I don't want to go back to Starling City. Recently I've had the chance to put a lot of things into perspective and those perspectives don't include running around Starling beating people to death half cocked."

"Finally," Bruce muttered under his breath. "It appears that you have your answer," he told the two Starling City residents. "You need to leave."

"River!" Roy objected.

I walked towards the doors, stopping beside Roy. "You moved onto Thea pretty quickly, Roy. Too quickly. Don't get me wrong, I love Thea. She's a good girl. But-I loved you and the only reason I would have come back was for you. But I don't need you. I don't need any of you." I shook my head with a laugh. "It's true what they say-your first love always hurts you the hardest. I have my own little blue bird now. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya."

Dick laughed as he followed me. "He wasn't happy."

"Do I look like I care?" I snapped. I headed up to my room with a sigh, kicking the doors open rather violently.

Dick leant against the doorway. "You've got that cranky face on. He'll go. Alfred will escort them out."

I walked over to my closet to find some clothes to change into least I be late for work when Dick wrapped his arms around my shoulders and breathed into my neck. "What are you doing?"

"You're tense," he advised me. "Incredibly tense." He started to massage my shoulders. "How 'bout you and me take a couple days out in Metropolis and just relax."

I laughed. "I appreciate the concern but I don't need a vacation. I need to hit something hard. In the face. Very hard. But I promised Bruce I wouldn't go out and look for trouble." I turned around in his arms and kissed him. "I don't want a relationship-Dick-this is just sex to me. Nothing more, nothing less. Roy ripped my heart out of my chest and well after I salvaged it I'm just not ready to do this again."

"Quickie in the shower?" he suggested, changing the subject with a huge grin on his face.

"Thought you'd never ask," I smirked, stripping out of the workout clothes I wore.


	9. Chapter 9

**++++++ Please note that Baoying is only a short interlude between Kongxu and a still yet unnamed part three of the Shade Series. It's probably going to only be between 10 - 15 chapters. **

**And in case you're all wondering, River and Roy will be getting back together in Part 3. I know some of you are dying for that.**

**Please enjoy the chapter.**

**I do not own ++++++**

**Nine**

I'd just stepped off the bus, bringing myself right out the front of the bookshop where I worked when my phone rang. I pulled the device out expecting to see an unrecognized number when I saw MOLLY flash across the screen.

"Hey, little sis," I answered with a smile.

Molly didn't reply. All I could hear on the other end of the line was the occasional sob, a woman telling others that everything would be alright and men shouting.

I held my phone out in my hand and ran inside the shop where Nancy was working on the laptop where she kept all her bookkeeping figures. "Nancy I need the computer!" I shouted, grabbing it out of her hands.

"Elizabeth!" Nancy shouted. "What are you doing?"

I ignored her and remotely hacked into the Batcave from her computer, bringing up the tracking program. I typed in Molly's number and waited for the program to track the number.

"What's going on?" Nancy asked. "What's that? Why is the Bat Symbol in the corner of the computer? Elizabeth?"

I looked down at the elderly lady as the computer pinged its completion. "Sorry, Nancy." Typing in the location, I sent the coordinates to my phone.

"I know that location," Nancy told me. "That's old warehouses by the river. Is somebody in trouble?"

"Possibly," I admitted. "Possibly." I looked at her and sighed. "Someone's going to come here very soon. Don't be scared. Just answer as honestly as you can." I held the phone up to my ear just as Molly screamed and someone grabbed the phone. "HEY!" I shouted.

"What do we have here?"

Harley.

I gritted my teeth. "Harley."

"And who are you?" she asked, her high pitched voice making me want to break the phone. She didn't recognise my voice, I wasn't wearing the voice scrambler.

"I'm that girl's sister," I answered. "You harm a hair on her head and I will kill you-do you understand? You and your precious Mr J. You got that?"

Harley shrieked with laughter and the call ended.

I slammed my phone down and removed my jacket. There was a biker bar across the street. I tied my hair back in a bun and stormed across the street, fiddling with the butterfly knife that was hidden in my boot.

I singled out a red and black bike with a black helmet hanging on the handle bars. The moment I climbed on and started hotwiring the bike, someone started screaming out for his mate. I ignored them and speed off with my illegally borrowed bike.

What did Harley Quinn and the Joker want with a buss full of Starling City School Students? I asked myself as I weaved in and out of traffic.

I picked up the trail near the warehouse district, choosing to go on foot instead of taking the bike. Searching the warehouses would take forever and a day alone, but I needed to see what was going on first. This was my sister-my sister and no one messed with my family like that. Not even a deranged clown and his little bitch.

"I can't believe we got guard duty again!"

"Be lucky we ain't inside. Angus pulled duty inside last week and he was killed by a flower full of acid."

I flattened myself up against a wall, waiting for two men badly dressed as clowns to walk passed me. Carefully and quietly, I picked up a piece of piping, using it to knock out the smaller of the two before laying into the big guy.

Sure I'd promised Bruce no more killing-but I wasn't wearing the suit-I wasn't a hero at this point. I was a big sister. I leant forward and grabbed the smaller clown around the collar, "Explain to me why the Joke is kidnapping a bus full of students," I ordered.

He cried out as I bent his finger backwards, snapping it in two. "He's experimentin' on them!" he sobbed.

I raised my pipe and hit him in the face, knocking him out cold. "I'm gonna fucking kill him." I cleaned the pipe off on the unconscious clowns clothing before heading the way they'd just come from.

Eventually I came to a large warehouse completely guarded by clowns with machine guns. I stopped and looked around. The warehouse next door had a broken window to slip in through. The selling point was that it was connected via the roof to Joker HQ.

Silently I climbed in through the broken window, landing on the dusty floor. As my eyes adjusted to the dusty darkness, I crossed the empty floor to the stairs that lead up to the supervisor's office as well as a ladder than went up to the roof.

In the daylight they would see me, sure as chips, if I wasn't careful. I knelt down and crawled across the empty gap to the roof of the next warehouse. Looking through the window I stared down at a funhouse replica, eventually setting my site on the school bus and the circle of scared children and teacher lying on the ground beside the bus.

"What is going on?" I muttered to myself.

"Those three!" the Joker laughed, waltzing into the open floor wearing a lab coat.

Harley forced a parent supervisor and two students to their feet and had the clowns separate them.

I cocked my head to the side as the Joker fiddled with something on the table. He turned around and jabbed something into the parent supervisor and shoved her down into a pit in the ground. It wasn't long before she started screaming, clutching her face.

Harley pushed the children into the pit and stood back to watch as the parent transformed into a giant hulking monster that reminded me of Bane from the BatFiles. I looked around for a hatch or a door that went inside-nothing. The only way I was getting inside was through the windows. If I didn't act quick-that monster would kill the children.

I raised the pipe, smashing the window, alerting the other's to my presence. I dove in through the window, catching a hanging chain that carried me to the ground inside the pit. With the knife in my other hand, I stabbed it straight through the monsters neck, severing the spinal cord, killing it instantly. They children ran behind me, using me to protect them.

The Joker started clapping. "You don't see that every day, do you? No one in this city has the balls to jump through a roof. What do you think, Harls?"

"We got ourselves a genuine hero, Mr J," Harley grinned.

"Get her boys," Joker growled.

Eight machine guns were pointed at me, forcing me to raise my hands in surrender. Something hit me in the back of my head, knocking me out and sending me spiraling into darkness.

* * *

I woke up with a sharp slap to the face.

Startled, I immediately tried to sit up, ready to defend myself but found myself strapped tightly to a table. "What the hell?" I muttered, looking around. Several things were wrong with this scene-I was naked and I had an audience.

"See that is a fine specimen," Joker told his men.

"Look at all them scars," Harley noted, poking the numerous scars all over my body. "She's ugly."

"Hey!" I snapped. "You try living on an island with psychopaths for five years with no medical help!" God forbid I was arguing with the psychotic clown. "Where's my sister?" I snapped.

Joker laughed. I couldn't see what he was fiddling with but I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. He turned around and approached me, hands behind his back. The clown leant in with a smirk on his face. "S'ppose old Batsy gave you a rundown of Gotham's little family?"

"What are you talking about?" I lied.

He laughed. "It's they eyes-it's always the eyes that give 'em away. You've got those crazy hero eyes. And you're not Batgirl cause I took care of that." Joker smirked as he hovered over me. "What do you know about Venom?"

My eyes widened in terror.

Harley giggled. "Mr J fixed it up good and proper. It's not his fault those other rats melted."

I knew about Venom, the original formula that was highly addictive and only worked in sixty minute increments-it was Bane's poison of choice. There was Titan as well developed by a Doctor Penelope Young, it was more potent that Venom, only a small amount needed to be used to trigger a transformation. I watched as Joker produced a large needled from behind his back. I hated needles. "What the hell is that?" I growled, struggling to break free whilst keeping my eyes on the ironically purple substance in the needle.

Harley's eyes widened. "Bird-brain here has a point. It needs a name, Mr J."

He paused and leant back. "A good artist always signs his work…how about _Hades by Joker_? It has a pleasant lavender scent."

"Boss it doesn't smell like anything!" one of the clowns objected.

Harley shot him in the head. "No imagination."

Joker broke down in laughter. "Such a good girl, Harley dear. Prep the subject. These things go better injected into the brain stem."

"You touch me and I'll kill you!" I snapped.

They completely ignored me as Harley fiddled with a small section behind my neck. I felt a cold prick of a needle and a sudden sharp pain before everything was suddenly on fire.

My body burned.

I could hear the sound of gunfire through the sound of my screams.

"River," hang on. "We'll get you back to the cave. Nightwing, the blanket."

A rough blanket was thrown over me and I found myself lost in pain and terror and fear and fire.


	10. Chapter 10

**++++++ So I've started writing my Flash FanFiction so once I get to a certain point in my part three off this story set, I will start to upload it. **

**Enjoy the chapter. **

**I do not own ++++++**

**Ten**

I awoke to the sound of a heart monitor.

The steady _beep, beep, beep_ of the machine was pleasant and incredibly soothing. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the roof of the Bat-Cave. I could have laid their forever but the familiar green face of J'onn J'onzz entered my field of vision. "Welcome back, Miss Quinn."

"Did I get hit my a bus?" I muttered.

"Not exactly," he replied. "What happened is you were injected with a substance chemically altered by the Joker. Its original formula was Venom. You've been in a coma for a week. Bruce was worried about you. And Richard's been a mess."

"Joker called it _Hades by Joker_," I informed him.

J'onn helped me sit up and handed me a drink of water. The moment I was upright, he proceeded to check my vitals. "Everything appears to be okay," he told me whilst he took blood.

"The kids?" I rasped.

"Safe," Bruce spoke from the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"What did he do to me?" I asked, not wanting to beat around the bush. "Why didn't I turn into a giant hulking monster?"

"Not a clue," Bruce sighed. "Unfortunately the building burnt down. Joker trashed all his notes. We've been taking as much of your blood as well can but whatever it is, is literally melting into your blood cells, your bones, your brain, your DNA."

"Is Dick okay?" I asked.

Bruce nodded. "Sure. He's fine. Clark's keeping him busy training and patrolling."

"River!" Molly yelled, running towards the bed with Barbara coming up behind her. She jumped up onto the bed and hugged me. "Peter's coming to get me. He couldn't get off work though so Bruce let me stay till he gets here. Isn't that cool? You're really hot, River."

Bruce touched my head. "She's right. You do have an elevated temperature. You're hot enough to have a fever."

"I'm starving," I told them.

J'onn looked me up and down. "The high temperature could be a side effect of this Hades serum. She needs to eat and the fever instead of burning her body it will burn off the food."

"Can you walk?" Bruce asked me. "Some fresh air and food might do you some good."

I threw my legs over the side of the bed and let J'onn remove all the wires attached to me before putting my feet on the ground. "So why didn't you take me to an actual hospital?" I inquired, putting my hand Bruce's arm so I could stand on shaky legs. I was wearing just a sports bra and some underwear, Barbara handed me a robe to put on.

"I suggested we keep you here," J'onn told me. "It made it easier for me to monitor you this way. The Watchtower is running your blood samples."

"Thank you," I smiled softly.

"I'll stay and help J'onn," Barbara told us. "I've already had lunch."

Bruce and Molly helped me to the elevator where it took us up to the library.

"Can I use the bathroom?" I asked Bruce, pointing to the hidden bathroom near the suit of armour. When he nodded, I hobbled over to the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind me. I took care of my business before turning the tap in the sink on. I looked at my image in the mirror, what should have been blue eyes staring back at me where now a different colour. I had slithers of violet in my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

My image cocked its head to the side and dove out at me, smashing the mirror to pieces. I jumped back and hit the wall. The mirror was intact and all I could see was my own frightened image.

Quickly I turned the tap off and rushed out where Bruce and Molly were waiting for me. My sister had really taken a shine to the billionaire. I looked at Bruce and shook my head. "No."

He raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm not doing anything?"

"Just no!" I warned him as I sat down beside Molly.

A feast of food had already been laid out the terrace table with four plates, two half full of food. Molly picked up her fork and started munching on some salad, humming away.

I poured myself a drink of water and put some soft foods on my plate-eggs, potato salad and a bread roll. Whilst I pulled my bread roll apart, I scratched my arm. My whole body was itchy but it wasn't my skin-it was underneath my skin.

"Alfred sure knows how to fix a spread," Clark laughed as he walked up the terrace steps, workout clothes soaked with sweat. "River-when did you wake up? How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus," I told him. "It's nice to get some fresh air. Was it-was it you that found me? I think I remember the voice."

Clark nodded. "Sure was. I didn't look if that's what you're wondering."

"River!" Dick shouted, interrupting the conversation.

I loved up as Dick jogged over to me. "Hey, blue bird."

"You okay?" he asked me. "You're looking a little pale. Have you eaten anything? What's with the eyes?"

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked. "J'onn never said there was anything wrong with her eyes."

"They're violet," Dick answered. "Well-like slithers of violet anyway."

"Do you mind?" I grumbled. "I'm trying to eat."

"Relax," Clark advised Bruce. "She's not going anywhere. Let her eat. It hasn't been an easy few weeks for all of us."

I ignored everyone and picked at my eggs, my thoughts consumed with the events of the past year. So much had changed, so much had happened-I hadn't had a normal day in my life since I was sixteen.

I could hear voices in the distance, cocking my head to the side as I tried to figure out who it was. "We've got visitors."

Everyone looked to the open doors that led to the library but no one came in. Bruce went to say something to me but Alfred appeared escorting Peter and Angela who was holding Frankie like a sack of potatoes and the baby was loving it.

"River!" Angela shouted, running over with Frankie. She jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly. "Are you okay? What happened? Did you fall off a roof or something? Did it happen fighting a bad guy? Are they superheroes as well? Can I guess?"

"Angie slow down," I laughed. I was trying not to hug her to tight, I felt like I could break her in two. "I'm no superhero."

Peter scoffed. "Thousands of people in Starling beg to differ. How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "I'll deal."

Peter turned to Bruce. "I don't exactly agree with the life people like you lead but you do what we can't."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that we're vigilantes?"

"I'm a cop and not an idiot," Peter replied. "And you look exactly like Superman."

Dick started laughing.

Peter held his hands up. "I don't want to know. As long as River's in good hands."

"She is," Bruce and Clark informed him, looking straight at Dick.

I pushed my plate away. "I need a shower."

"Sit," Bruce ordered. "Alfred, two more plates."


	11. Chapter 11

**++++++ This interlude is almost finished. **

**Love you all. **

**I do not own ++++++**

**Eleven **

They could have stayed at the manor but not feeling comfortable about the idea, Peter took the three kids to a hotel. He'd told me that he was on a two month vacation and wasn't leaving without me.

There was no way I was leaving Gotham-not yet. There was so much for me to learn and I wouldn't learn any of it in Starling. As much as I laughed at the idea, Bruce was my mentor. He was teaching me everything he could and since J'onn had given me the all clear to return to training-training but no field work.

Right now I was in no mood to go back into the field.

Today I was running laps around the gym whilst Bruce talked to Clark. Last night at dinner, Clark had announced that he was going to be returning to Metropolis. His leave from work was finished and his fiancé wanted him back.

The idea upset me, causing me to crush the spoon I was holding. Having drawn enough attention breaking the punching bag that morning, I hid the twisted metal in my pocket.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Clark and Bruce watching me very carefully, like I was going to snap at a moment's notice. A week had gone by since I'd woken up from my coma and it felt like there was something scratching me from the inside, struggling to get out. I'd done my best to hide it but I think both Clark and Bruce could see it.

The substance that Joker had injected into me-this Hades-it reminded me of the Mirakuru and its effect on Slade. Bruce had no clue what was in the Hades serum that Joker had made and despite the blood he'd take from me he was unable to decipher it. The notes and the substance had been destroyed when the warehouse was set on fire.

I stopped doing my laps of the gym and knelt over to catch my breath. My heart was beating in my chest a little faster than it should. Kneeling down, I clutched my chest, feeling like I was going to have a heart attack.

"River!" Clark shouted, jogging over to see if I was okay.

Clark put his hand on my shoulder and I lashed out, grabbing him and throwing him as far away from me as possible. Clark went straight through the wall of the gym and skidded across the floor of the foyer and through the walls of Bruce's office like he was nothing.

Bruce stood there and stared at me in shock. From the doorway, Alfred and Dick were dumbfounded. I gasped and walked backwards, holding my hands around me in a protective manner. I looked around the room-they were all looking at me like I was some kind of monster.

So I ran.

"RIVER!" Bruce shouted.

I jumped straight through the open window and ran. I stopped at the property fence, by this time I should have been out of breath even with the training, however I wasn't. I slammed my fist into one of the stone statues, expecting to break bone, not stone.

"Holy crap," I muttered, staring at the broken stone.

There was literally no one I could talk to. With Slade, once he was injected with the Mirakuru he started off okay than went insane. Would I go insane? The only one I could talk to about this was Oliver and we were hundreds of thousands of miles apart.

"You're a hard woman to find," Clark observed as I knelt there looking at the statue. "Did you do that?"

"I'm going crazy," I told him. "This is just like Slade. Just like the Mirakuru."

"The what?" he frowned.

I told the Kryptonian about the Mirakuru serum and what it did to Slade on the island. I was positive that it was going to happen to me.

"Can I see one of your scars?" Clark inquired. He had that curious, journalist look on his face.

I lifted the hem of my shirt up and Clark poked the area where my burns should have been. "Curious…your scars are healing."

"What?" I gasped. I pulled my shirt off, ignoring Clark completely to see my scars, the scars I'd so gotten used to, were mostly gone. "How is that possible?"

Clark sighed. "Honestly? We don't know. We honestly don't know. Joker's serum-we don't think he made it. We think he stole it from a lab the is owned by a proxy organisation owned by Luther Corp. That's all the information we got out of Harley before she got taken away."

"Taken away?" I asked. "Taken away by who?"

"ARGUS," Clark replied.

I growled. "Amanda 'fucking' Waller. Are they still here?" I asked him. "Is Amanda Waller still here?"

"They took Harley twenty-four hours ago," he replied. "You know Amanda Waller?"

"I hate that bitch," I muttered. "Let's just say we have history and if I get the chance-I will kill her. I promise." I wrapped my shirt around my fist and made my way back towards the manor.

"River," Clark called out. "Listen-I don't think it's safe for you here at the moment."

"Why?" I growled.

"Well whatever is going on with you for a start," Clark answered. "Judging by what I've just seen you're going through what I went through growing up."

I stopped walking and turned back to Clark. I knew he was an alien but he looked so human at that point. "What do you mean?"

"I grew up on farm," he told me. "But I was born on Krypton. My birth parents sent me to earth before my planet exploded. The sun gives me my powers, so growing up wasn't easy." Clark sat down on a stone bench. "First it was the super strength-like lifting a cow. Than the superspeed, heat vision-my dad taught me how to control these gifts whilst growing up on a farm. It's a lot more secluded than here. The farm air will do you good and I'm less likely to get broke by you when you get angry. I'll only be a matter of minutes away."

I stared down at my hands with a sigh. "Do you really think that living on a farm will help me?"

Clark shrugged. "It might. It might not. It just depends on how much effort you put into it. Either that or J'onn suggested sticking you back on Lian Yu. He even suggested joining you, saying her might like the scenery."

Immediately I shook my head. "No thanks. Smallville will do me just fine. Hey-thanks Clark. I really mean it, thank you." I jogged back up into the manor just in time to see Dick and Barbara in the foyer laughing with each other.

I stopped in the doorway and hid behind the wall to listen to them. I knew that Barbara and Dick used to be an item, Alfred had told me. Batgirl and Robin. Oracle and Nightwing. There was no room in that for Shade.

"Miss Quinn?" Alfred frowned.

I looked at the butler with a smile. "They're good together aren't they?" I asked him.

"Despite the current situation," Alfred spoke, "the answer is yes. I don't wish to cause you further confusion in your emotional state but Richard Greyson and Barbara Gordon go very well together."

"And I don't belong here," I sighed. "Starling is my home but I can't go back until I figure out if J'onn can fix me or if I can control this. Maybe it'll be good right?"

Alfred chuckled a little. "I often marvel at the fact that I am surrounded by martyrs. There was a fine young gentleman here several weeks ago to take you back home. I may be old but I know love when I see it."

"You're a wise old man," I laughed. "You're a grandfather to all of us vigilantes."

"To all you heroes," Alfred corrected me. "You are a hero, Miss Quinn. You may deny it all you like but you are. Keep in contact with us and come visit when you can."

I smiled. "I will. Thanks Alfred." I turned and went to backway to my room where I started to pack.

What does one pack for when they're going to live on a farm?


	12. Chapter 12

**++++++ So I spent the last few days binge watching Flash S1 and I've make a few changes to my Flash FanFiction. Keep an eye out for it in the next month or so. It will definitely be up by the end of November.**

**I do not own ++++++**

**Twelve**

"So where exactly are we going?" Angela asked, sitting in the back of the rental car as she played with Frankie.

"Smallville," Molly answered. "It's a farming community just outside of Metropolis."

"Sounds boring," Angela sighed. She waved the rattle in Frankie's face but he was too interested in playing with his feet than his own sister.

Peter looked sideways at me but I was too busy looking out the window at the fields of wheat going by. "Awfully nice of Mrs Kent to put you up whilst your friends figure this out. Think they'll find a cure?"

I shrugged. "Maybe I don't wanna be cured? Ever think of that? If I can use this strength to my advantage-I can make a better version of myself."

Peter sighed. "River-"

"Peter just give it up," I warned him. "I don't want you running around getting your hopes up about a cure when there could very well not be one. Joker wasn't exactly known for leaving cures for his fuck ups."

"Hey!" Peter snapped as the car slowed down to take a turn down a dirt road.

"I really don't want to talk about it," I told him. "Okay? What used to be a semi-normal life was destroyed when I tried to save Molly from being a scientific experiment. I'm actually pretty proud of that. So if I have to be like this for the rest of my life I'm gonna wear it as a badge of honour to remind me every day what I did."

Peter sighed as he stopped the car out the front of a homely farmhouse. "Look-we'll be in Metropolis whilst you're here. If you need us."

I got out of the car and went to the trunk where my bags were.

The front door opened and a Golden Retriever bounded out and almost knocked me off my feet.

"SHELBY DOWN!" Clark yelled as he came out followed by an elder woman.

"Shelby?" I laughed. "What kind of name is Shelby? I figured if you had a dog it would be something weird like Krypto or something."

"Your dad and siblings can come in," the woman smiled, "I made lunch. I have lots of food. I'm Martha, Martha Kent."

"River Quinn," I smiled.

"Peter Wilson," Peter answered, introducing himself whilst holding Frankie. "This is my son Frankie and my step-daughters Angela and Molly Quinn."

"Do you have horses?" Angela asked her.

"Sorry," Martha apologised. "It's a wheat farm. Sorry. Can I hold him?" she asked, indicating to Frankie as he reached out with his slimy little fists.

Peter handed the infant over to Martha and she walked into the house talking baby to him.

"I'll take your bags," Clark smiled, grabbing them off me to take inside the house.

A well-dressed woman with a high ponytail was placing a salad bowl on the table. "Oh hello," she smiled. "You must be River? I'm Lois Lane."

"The fiancé," I smiled, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you. Sorry that I've kept him from you for so long."

Lois rolled her eyes. "I swear, he's just as much engaged to Batman as he is engaged to me."

I laughed. "Bromance."

"Exactly," she replied.

"Lois!" Clark groaned. "Can you not?"

"Hey we should totally plan their wedding," I laughed.

Lois laughed at me and we all sat down at the table, Frankie sitting in Martha's lap. Clark piled food on my plate as well as his and the two of us immediately started eating like we hadn't eaten a full meal in our entire lives.

"So what exactly will you guys be doing here?" Lois asked. "Like a little _Karate Kid?_"

"I learnt to control my abilities on this farm," Clark answered. "The little, mundane tasks like dumping hay, jamming fence posts in the ground were what helped me. I won't lie, River. A lot of it was crash and burn but I made it and you will as well."

"I know," I nodded. "I was trained in combat by a psychopath. He trained me to kill and I was good at it. Afterwards, I was trained by a woman called Shado-she taught me the small stuff-like slapping a bowl of water with my hands for hours during the day. Stuff like that. I can deal with the mundane. Sometimes that makes me feel ordinary."

* * *

There were nights I'd wake up screaming.

Whatever was inside me was scratching to get its ways out.

There were nights were I'd never sleep at all.

I was too wired to even close my eyes.

For days on end I would stay inside my room, blinds closed, hands over my ears screaming that it was too bright and too loud.

Clark would always be there. He'd never let his mum near me when I was fidgety and scared cause I'd break stuff and sometimes bones. His mum would call him in the middle of the night and he'd be there so quickly. On the days that I was able to function properly, I'd spend my time doing just what Clark said I would-mundane shores where I'd learn to last long and longer without getting tired.

I couldn't run faster than a speeding bullet but it was fun fighting with the man of steel now that I could keep up with him. I met Clark's friends, all of them that knew who he was-my favourite was Chloe Sullivan-she gave me a more than basic understanding regarding computers which would probably come in handy sooner rather than later.

Occasionally I would lose my temper-I still needed to work on that because if I got too angry, Clark noticed my eyes would glow and the veins in my body would bulge a sickly purple colour. J'onn was sure that it was a side-effect of the Venom serum to which the Hades serum was based.

That part of me was scary.

But Clark was teaching me to control it and I knew that there was a possibility that the serums effects couldn't be reversed so controlling it was the next best thing. Hell-even my DNA had changed.

I didn't feel like me anymore but I did at the same time.

They say that change is good but I'm not sure if this change is good or bad.

My blessing or my curse?

Only time would tell.


	13. Chapter 13

**++++++ So here we are, the last chapter in my little interlude. Part three should be up soon. **

**For those of you who cursed me for breaking Roy/River up-THEY WILL GET BACK TOGETHER!**

**SOON!**

**I do not own ++++++**

**Thirteen**

Lois suggested a new hero name but I liked Shade because it was my dedication to Shado.

I missed Shado, every day I missed her. I didn't let anyone know but she was my inner strength that kept me going. I liked to think about her when I was training.

Like I was today.

Midway through what Clark ridiculously called a 'Staff Dance' I heard Shelby barking from outside the barn. I stopped and walked barefooted outside the barn to see Martha kicking the wheel of the tractor. "You could break a foot doing that," I chuckled. "Need a hand?"

Martha sighed. "It's times like this that I miss Clark," she told me. "He could have lifted this whilst his dad fixed it."

"I can do that," I shrugged. "I think." I rubbed my hands together in the dirt and put one of them underneath the tractor and lifted. It wasn't as heavy as I thought I would be.

Marth smiled and slid underneath. "And now I miss Jonathon. I'm not as good with this as he was." She rolled back out and stood up. "I'll need to get someone out to fix it."

I helped her get to her feet. "What about your farm hands?" I questioned. "You've got like heaps of stuff in the barn for them."

Martha sighed. "River, you're a sweetheart. I had to let them go, finances aren't too good right now. The wheat's all going to die and that'll put me more in debt with the bank."

I shook my head. "No it's not. How much do you need?"

She blushed. "River, no. Clark said you were somewhat wealthy. I can't have you paying for my troubles."

"So far I've broken through two walls, a couple of beds, your table, the front door and your guest bathroom," I reminded her. "So please, let me pay back a little of the kindness you've shown me."

"River," she spoke, "no. I can't take your money."

"Well at least let me pay for the tractor to be replaced," I urged her.

"Lemonade?" she inquired, changing the subject.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, please."

* * *

I couldn't sleep.

Sadly it was becoming a regular thing.

When I couldn't sleep, I'd sit out in the barn, in the hayloft and look up at the stars.

It was then that I realised that this was the first time in a very long time that I'd truly felt peaceful. And I missed Roy.

Part of me wanted to go home but the other part wasn't sure.

_"__You got a name?" hoodie shouted after me. _

_I turned and stuck my finger up at him. "It's River. You?"_

_"__Roy," he yelled back. _

Angela told me how Roy and Thea got together. Thea was now managing Oliver's club, _Verdant_, and Roy had gone in one night after Oliver had left Starling City and their relationship evolved from there.

Just like me to fuck it up.

Sure there was Dick but we were just having fun with each other.

"I used to come up here a lot when I was a teenager." Clark came up behind me and sat down on the floor beside me. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Not tired despite the lack of sleep. It's more like when you have an energy drink for the first time and you're buzzed but you don't know what to do."

"Mum told me what you did," Clark grinned, "with the tractor. She also told me that she got a call from the bank today to let her know that all the debts have been paid for and she was a million in credit. And I see a new tractor got delivered today."

I blushed a little. "I hope she's not mad at me."

"Mum's more embarrassed," he replied. "She's used to doing things on her own. And we've had bad experiences with rich people in the past."

"I don't want anything from you guys," I assured him.

Clark chuckled. "I know, River. I know. So in a change of topic, I've been talking to Bruce, Diana is ready to have you around for a few weeks."

I grinned. "Really?"

He nodded. "She wants to meet you. Apparently all Bruce does when he talks with her is talk about you. Plane leaves tomorrow with a lay-over in Gotham City Airport."

"Cheapskate couldn't spring for a complete trip there?" I laughed. I looked back up at the sky. "I think I'm gonna miss your mum-she reminds me of my dad. So much love to give."

"She'll miss you as well," Clark assured me. "You'll have to come and visit one weekend. Chloe said if you didn't, she'd hunt you down."

I shivered, "and I believe her."

Clark stood up. "I'm gonna crash on the couch, scare the crap out of my mum when she comes down in the morning."

"Night Clark," I waved, continuing to look back at the sky.

* * *

All in all, I spent two months on the Kent Farm, by the time I was ready to leave and move onto Gateway City to start my training with Wonder Woman, Bruce called.

I wasn't going to Gateway City anymore.

He wanted me back in Gotham.

Whispers were running through the streets of Starling, something big was coming and the city needed her protectors back.

I was going home.

* * *

**++++++ I have a gifty for you...**

**River Quinn meeting Charlotte Allen ++++++**

_"This looks like a pretty cool party. Invitation only, right?"_

_I grabbed Oliver's bow and loaded it in a matter of seconds, aiming it at the top of the stairs where a teenager with purple hair stood holding a skateboard with her head cocked to the side. "Who are you?" I demanded to know. _

_"Who am I?" she laughed. "Who the hell are you? I get to the train station to see my brother and see him kidnapped by dude in a green hood-I had to follow."_

_Barry looked up at the top of the stairs whilst he held a needle full of rat poison. "Charlie, what are you doing here?"_

_"Well saving your ass, I had 911 on speed dial," she replied. She tucked her skateboard underneath her arm and came down the stairs like she owned the place. "This is very cool." She looked Oliver over like a science project. "Judging by the colour of his skin-intravenous coagulation?" _

_"Very good," Barry nodded. _

_"Hey!" I snapped. "He is not a science project! Fix him or I will drop you from the roof of a really tall building."_

_"Everyone, this is my little sister," Barry told us. "Charlotte this is the gang. River, Felicity and brooding body guard number one."_

_"Barry!" I snapped. "This was not my idea and may I remind you-"_

_"Yeah, yeah, building," he nodded. _

_"She's grumpy," the girl muttered. "You inject, I'll keep an eye on his vitals."_

_"I can't believe they let you out," Barry sighed, shaking his head as he worked on Oliver. _

_"It was just a little B and E," she shrugged. "I'm too pretty for jail."_


End file.
